Robert Wease Architect

BLACKSHELL, LLC is an interior renovation of an existing 100-year-old Horse Drawn Artillery Barn located in the services area of Historic Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana. The barn structure is comprised of 12" thick (three wyth) brick bearing walls along all four sides and a heavy timber post and composite truss roof structure. Along the latitudinal "short" direction (north/south) the structural grid varies from 10'-0" near the exterior walls to a 20'-0" wide bay in the center main clerestory which runs 3/4 the length of the buildings 160'-0" long dimension. The main roof support truss structures runs (east/west) in the longitudinal direction. There are four (4) main truss grid lines in this structure. The main center trusses are along the clearstory bay and are 9'-0" tall composite oak timbers. The secondary truss is a 4'-0" tall composite oak timber system supporting the sloping shed roof areas over the equipment bays. The client requested that the barn's existing character, inherent charm and rough structural system be preserved, allowing the history of the facility to be apparent throughout the finished space. At the same time, the space planning called for several different work environments, ranging from interactive creative to task-oriented analysis and private detailed client/account spaces. The client also requested that numerous recycled materials be incorporated within the finished design. This included the reuse of blue porcelain enameled steel silo panels, galvanized corrugated grain bin panels, reclaimed oak basketball / gymnasium floor, oak school classroom doors, an oak stair railing system and the reuse of wire grid skylight glass. Some of these materials were acquired through an auction at Portland High School, which was subsequently razed in the summer of 2002.--Robert Wease

So we have the existing structure in a PowerCADD drawing.

Here's a closeup detail

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